The
District of Columbia Council of Engineering and Architectural Societies (DCCEAS)

With some changes, the DCCEAS has announced the kick-off for this
year's Competition for Outstanding Young Engineer and Architect Research
Papers, conducted by the local engineering, architectural, and planning
societies for undergraduate and graduate engineering, architecture, and
planning students in the National Capital Region. The winners in each category of the Paper
Competition will be recognized with Certificates and cash awards at the next
DCCEAS Engineers Week Banquet in February.

RULES FOR THE ANNUAL
PAPER COMPETITION

ELIGIBILITY

The DCCEAS Competition
is open only to students who are enrolled in one of the engineering,
architectural, or planning schools in the National Capital Region, as full-time
students, as defined below. Papers are submitted only electronically to a
participating member Society or, directly, to the Chair of the Education
Committee of DCCEAS, whose address is given below.

A student may enter the
competition only as an individual in one of two categories:

1.
Undergraduate
- for undergraduate students who completed at least 15 credit hours or the
equivalent in the Fall, and will be enrolled in the Spring.

2.
Graduate
- for graduate students, who in the Fall semester were engaged in full-time
graduate study with at least 9 credit hours, or in teaching/research and
graduate study with at least 3 credit hours, and will be enrolled in the
Spring.

TOPICS AND FORMAT

The paper should be
written individually by the student entering the competition, and it may be on
any engineering, architectural, planning, or related topic or project,
including, but not limited to, work or an adaptation of work that has been done
as part of the student's regular coursework or research during the calendar
year that includes the Fall semester prior to the award date.

PAPER TOPICS:

Papers shall be on
on-going research, completed projects, or applied activities within the fields
represented by the member societies of DCCEAS.
Research proposals or theoretical constructs are not appropriate
for this competition. Papers must be
written in English solely by individual students.

FORMAT AND LENGTH:

The format of the paper
will include the following:

A
brief abstract (about 100 words) of the research project

Discussion
of the research issue to be addressed

Method
of study, including resources used and a timeline of the project

Results/outcomes
of the project

Significance
of the project

The length of the paper
is not to exceed 4000 words and shall be formatted according to standard
guidelines for publication in a professional journal. (Such standard formats are available from your
Dean, Department Chair, Advisor, or Librarian.)

ENTRY PACKAGE

Each entry package
should include:

1.
An
entry form or letter completed and signed by the student and a Faculty Advisor;
Department Chair, or Dean.

2.
An
original paper written in English, complete with a cover page,
acknowledgements, abstract, introduction, etc., with references, and
appendices; and

a.
Undergraduate First Prize -
$500.00

b.
Graduate
First Prize - $800.00

3. One
copy of the paper that is edited to remove any and all information and
references that would give away the identity of the author or his/her
institution, advisor, religion, etc. This second 'blind' copy is for the
use of the Judges.

The two copies of each
paper and accompanying entry form or letter shall be submitted electronically
by a Faculty Advisor, Department Chair, or Dean, to a participating member
society (if known) or directly to Dr. Ahmet Zeytinci, PE, Chair of the
Education Committee of the DCCEAS. Students
should visit www.dcceas.org, send email to Dr. Ahmet Zeytinci, P.E., at azeytinci@udc.edu
or education@dcceas.org,
or call(240)535-6060 if they need assistance or have additional
questions regarding the process.

After consultation with
Committee members, the Chair of the DCCEAS Education Committee shall
distribute those papers that were submitted directly to DCCEAS to participating
member societies. In this first stage of
the competition, the participating member societies will evaluate student
papers that they received directly from the Universities together with those
received through DCCEAS, and recommend up to two of their highest ranked
papers, one in each category, to be considered by DCCEAS in the second and final stage of the competition.

All DCCEAS finalists
will be commended at the annual Engineers Week Awards Banquet in February, but
DCCEAS cash awards will be given only to the first place winner in each
category.

Papers that do not meet
the deadlines and requirements for topic and format shall be disqualified.

JUDGING

The DCCEAS Education
Committee will assemble a panel of Judges, from a pool of experts from
academia, government, and private industry, to read and rate the edited copies
of the papers evaluated, selected, and entered by member Societies in the final
Competition. The Judges shall
recommend deserving papers to receive first prize in each of the two categories
– undergraduate and graduate, respectively. However, depending on the quality of the
papers submitted, the Judges may decide not to recommend an award in either or
both categories.

PRIZES & RECOGNITION

Winners in each category
will receive DCCEAS Certificates and cash awards, as follows:

The winners in each
category of the Paper Competition will be recognized at the DCCEAS Awards
Banquet during Engineers Week in February (see www.dcceas.org).

ANNUAL PROCEDURES

STEP 1.
Students
should submit completed original papers to their Faculty Advisor, Department
Chair or Dean.

STEP 2.
The
Advisor, Department Chair or Dean sends Entry Letters with the papers
electronically (as described above) to a participating member society or to the
Education Committee Chair of DCCEAS, who distributes the papers to
participating member Societies.

STEP 3.
Sponsoring
member societies forward their selections to the Education Committee of DCCEAS.

STEP 4.
A
panel of Judges assembled by the DCCEAS Education Committee reviews the papers
in each category; selects the winners and notifies the Presidents of the
contributing Member Societies and the authors’ Advisors, Department Chairs,
and/or Deans. Member societies invite the winners to the Awards Banquet.

Finally, recognition of
the winners of the DCCEAS College Paper Competition will be at the DCCEAS
Engineers Week Awards Banquet